Randomness...

I have so many exciting events that I need to blog about and not much time to do it... so they are going to have to wait. I want to journal some random thoughts / events / situations or whatever you want to call them. No pictures to worry about tonight cause that takes up too much time and I need to get to bed.

*My house is not looking at its best, but the lawn is mowed. (Bryce will need to weed whack it when he gets back into town-- I don't weed whack. It scares me, frustrates me cause I can't keep the thing running and I honestly don't know if my arms could hold it up after mowing the lawn. Our self propelled part isn't working on our mower. I guess it gives me the workout I need and truly desire.)

*I had a lot of fun reading with the kids tonight. They are really enjoying reading a few verses out of the Book of Mormon. Abbey can read her own verse while Braxton and Landen repeat what we whisper to them. Either it is in jet engine volume or so quiet nobody can hear them--especially Landen. It has been good for us to do it cause it has helped me listen better to where they are having some speach issues with certain sounds. And of course there are many other benefits to reading the scriptures.

*We are also currently reading "Super Fudge." The kids busted up uncontrollably laughing tonight when the 5 year old boy, Fudge called his Kindergarten teacher "Rat Face" after she was not nice to him. Normally I wouldn't really be ok with them laughing when somebody was called a name... but the teacher honestly deserved it... and I couldn't help but bust up laughing just hearing them giggling so hard over it. It makes me smile just thinking about it right now.

*Braxton is giving our babysitters a run for their money. There seems to be some sort of switch that turns on and he goes from being sweet to a defiant stinker in a half a second. I don't know what to do. He gets Landen on the bandwagon as well. I came home from doing some Relief Society visits today to lay down the law with them. They were quite surprised to have me fly through the door when I should have been gone. What to do??? He is such a sensitive boy and I think that it usually starts with him getting his feelings hurt somehow...I don't know though cause he tries to pull some stuff with me and I generally can shut it right down before he gets out of control. Our poor babysitters... And at the same time... poor Braxton cause I don't want him to be miserable with them either.

*Mason went to the doctor today for his checkup and immunizations. He is such a cute and smiley baby! He weighs 16 lbs and is 26 inches long. I love his blonde fuzzy flat top hair that he has going on w/ his gorgeous blue eyes! He was winning the hearts of everyone in the office. He was a tuff cookie and didn't cry too much with the shots. It has made him grumpy today and that breaks my heart that he doesn't feel good from them. I keep him going w/ medicine for the day and usually by tomorrow he is fine. Quick funny story from the doctor's office. Mason was stripped down to his diaper from being weighed and was sitting on my lap waiting for Dr. Mower to come into the exam room. He started to poop a few loud poops and I jumped up, set him on the exam table (covered in the exam paper stuff) and thought I will be such a great mom and hurry to change the diaper before we have any complications. I was too late! The MOMENT I set him down on the table poop GUSHED out from the top back of his diaper all over the exam paper. No big deal I thought. I will wipe him off with a few wet wipes, move him down a few feet on the table and rip that section of poop soaked paper off with no problems. I had just moved Mason down to a new spot and was about to rip off the paper when he grabbed the exam paper with his death like grip and pulled the paper up and over to him. Poop went running all over! By the time I had everything cleaned up I had poop on the front of my shirt, a wad of exam paper the size of a basketball, 3 other children who were restless wanting me to keep reading them books and a very happy baby! I about died when Dr. Mower walked into the room and I had to explain to him why there was this massive amount of wadded up exam paper in my hand. From the look on his face when he walked into the room... he must have thought I was nuts! I am sure he has seen similar problems or experienced them himself... but I wanted to die!

*We have had a major breakthrough for our family the past few weeks! We have been struggling all summer with the kids acting out and having a MISERABLE time getting chores done! Every day I just wanted to die and was so frustrated! Bryce and I sat down one night to get some solutions. We had been sleeping in a bit... me till about 8 am if I could and the kids were waking me up when they got up fighting. We decided that we had to be up and moving before the kids got up. Bryce was already doing this but he was in the shower and such when trouble would start. We cracked down on ourselves, set alarms for ourselves and it has been a night and day difference! Bryce gets up before me and showers for work. My alarm goes off at 6:55 am and I have from 7 till 7:30 am to shower and get ready. During my "spa time" as Bryce calls it he is in charge of the kids and has to be helping their morning to move along and not leave them to fight with each other. I have to admit when the alarm goes off I just want to go back to sleep cause I am dog tired but it is so worth it! The kids usually wake up around 7:30 and now I am ready to take on the noise with a smile. Once school starts I will have to bump up our alarms a half an hour earlier but thats ok too. I have found that generally I am just as tired at 6:30 as I am at 7:30 am. I know it isn't a new concept but I am thankful for the answer to my prayers and the strength to do it!

*Landen has learned how to ride a 2 wheeler bike! He doesn't seem to enjoy riding it much though. He still prefers to ride the 3 wheeled pink scooter from Abbey. Maybe more practice and experience will make him more comfortable.

*Mason can roll over from his back to his stomach and from his stomach to his back. He doesn't do it a ton but can when he wants something. He loves standing in the exersaucer to play. He loves chewing/slobbering on his fists and occasionally finds a finger to suck on. He isn't a big fan of his binki and pulls a sour face if you ever give it to him when he doesn't want it. It works about half the time to calm him down to go to sleep. We wrap him up tight in a blanket with another fuzzy blanket on the top of him, give him his binki and he goes to sleep. Most the time the binki doesn't stay in his mouth for long but no complaints here as long as he goes to sleep. Mason is getting a voice. He loves to babble when things are quiet. He has a death grip and you have to watch out for your juggular, any hair on your body (especially Bryce's leg and arm hairs!) and cheeks.

*Abbey and Braxton have been taking gymnastics this summer. They love to do it and wished we could have them continue on during the school year. They are always "putting on shows" for us and Landen is quick to jump in with his gymnastic tricks. Abbey is SUPER flexible and we tease her that she will have to join the circus and make us rich.

*Sunday night after the kids were in bed Bryce and I listened to a fireside that John Bytheway had done for our stake on 5 ways to improve your marriage. Deseret Book made it into a "book on tape" and our ward had a copy of it. It was so great to listen to it! It was nice to hear things from a third party source that we can each work on. I feel that we are happily married but who couldn't use a little improvement??? The best part was going for a walk around our block a few times afterwards. I LOVE THESE WALKS!!! It is so peaceful outside, I get some exercise and we just talk. I love them! I love them! I love them! And the best part was that he suggested going that night. He must love me! :)

Well- it is a few minutes past bedtime and I need to be at full force tomorrow. The alarm is going to go off all too soon!

Happy Birthday Abbey!

My little girl is 8! I can't believe it!!! Happy Birthday Abbey! We started of the crazy day with her opening presents from us. She wanted books and to get her ears pierced. She also got a Taylor Swift cd and some magnetix. Our family has almost every song on the cd memorized by now! :) As Abbey was opening her presents Landen sat with his pretend camera and directed her to say, "Cheese!" and to look at him! It was so cute! Bryce took a picture of him taking a picture of Abbey.

This is the year for a friend party and with the 100 degree days a water party worked out perfectly! Abbey has some fantastic friends and I couldn't believe that with 12 girls there weren't any "cat fights'" rude remarks or power struggles. They were all very polite and so much fun to have over! Abbey chose snow cones and chocolate chip cookies for her birthday treats and they were a hit!

Once we had the party cleaned up we headed off to the mall to get Abbey's ears pierced. Her cousin, Hannah, came along for fun and good moral support. Abbey seemed nervous but wouldn't admit to it. She quickly picked out the earrings she liked and was ready to get the show moving. She didn't even flinch when they did it! She has been contemplating having them peirced for a few years and has seen too many girls screaming and crying in the mall to have her commit until now. She looks really cute with them pierced and has LOVED taking care of them and looking in the mirror at them.

Abbey is very sweet, helpful, shy, talkative (I know that sounds weird to be talkative and shy... but she is both), independent and an artist. She is an excellent big sister to her brothers andwe can hardly wait for her to be able to babysit for us!!! :)

Some of Abbey's favorites:

*Reading

*Doing art projects

*Chocolate!

*Money - she is a good saver!

*Playing the piano... but not practicing!

*Singing

*Gymnastics

*Swimming

Some of Abbey's dislikes:

*Cleaning her room

*Not being in charge

*Chinese food

Happy Birthday Abbey!!! We hope you had a great day and we love you so much!!!

Signs of Summer...

I just love summer! Here are some reasons why:


FHE waterfight! Is it fair that Bryce has a hose???


Cheering Braxton on in t-ball.



Braxton did awesome on his team this year. He can throw the ball really well. Watch out!

Bryce was practically the unofficial assistant coach. It was nuts trying to get all of those kids to pay attention and to understand exactly what to do. They had enthusiastic coaches (Thanks Havilah & Victor Johnson!) which made it so fun.







*LATE NIGHTS IN THE BACKYARD WATCHING THE KIDS DO TRICKS ON THE TRAMPOLINE

*BBQS ON THE DECK

*THUNDERSTORMS

*OTTERPOPS!

It has been a fantastic summer so far. We have had a million things going on and it is flying by WAY too fast.

I chopped it off!

Trying to keep up with 4 kids has been a bit of a challenge for me. One frustrating aspect was my hair. It has enough curl that I have to blow it dry, round brush & flat iron it for style... but not enough curl to let it blow dry into gorgeous curls anymore. I had to spend at least a half an hour each day just on my hair and it couldn't be interrupted if I wanted it to turn out well. Even after all of that effort I didn't like it on most days. Well I had had enough! I finally got the guts to chop it off. Ok... I will be honest. It took me 2 seperate hair appointments within 2 weeks to get the guts... but that is beside the point. Here is a picture of me with my new do!



This new hairstyle has been a lifesaver! I don't spend more than 10 minutes total on my hair now and I like the bit of sass it has. I am also a much more relaxed mom cause I am more willing to go to the pool and such on the spur of the moment and I don't have to be depressed that all of my hard work on my hair just went to waste. (Stupid I know but it bothered me.) I do miss my long hair and maybe one of these years I will grow it back but for now I am loving this liberating feeling.

Happy Birthday Landen!

Landen is finally 3! He has been anticipating his birthday for a VERY long time and has consistently asked for trains and super hero guys (along with and entire outside swing set, a snow cone shack, and all the other things we pass on a whim.) I did have to laugh when he wanted a snow cone shack... I wondered if he even had any idea what it was.

Anyway, we celebrated his birthday a few days early and combined it with Strawberry Days for a big BBQ get-together. We had a great time eating, opening presents and having a MASSIVE water fight! Not to many went home dry but hopefully everyone went home happy!

Landen almost missed his entire party. The night before he slept out on the trampoline with Bryce, Abbey and Braxton. They stayed up really late and were up really early with the sunrise. Landen fell asleep on the short drive home from the Strawberry Days parade and slept through the lunch portion of his party. We woke him up to open presents--which took him a minute to decide he really wanted to open them. He quickly got into the birthday spirit... only to fall over in his chair and get all teary. A few presents cured that incident and the party continued on. I was only able to get a few pictures cause my battery died on my camera-- it had been a long and crazy week!!!

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Happy Birthday Landen! We love you so much!

Some of Landen's favorite things:

*Superhero guys

*Playing ALL BY HIMSELF! (no siblings)

*Playing with his neighbor friends

*Beating the other kids in a race-- he so badly wants to keep up with everyone else!

*Fruit of all kinds

*Reading books with his mom

*Riding dirt bikes with his dad

*Watching Dinosaur Train on tv

*Chocolate chips for going potty in the toilet

Some of Landen's dislikes:

*Rootbeer floats

*Having to actually sit down to eat something

*Chores--specifically making his bed and getting dressed

*Snarls in his hair

Memorial Day

After getting our buntings and smaller American flags put out we headed to the PG cemetary to pay our respects. We had a good time walking through the cemetary. The kids were facinated (and so were Bryce and I) with figuring out how old people were when they died, finding veterans and pioneers.

We then made our way up to "This is the place, Heritage Park." We panned for gold, made the first page of the Deseret News' 1st edition newspaper, made candles, pounded leather, were schooled in the Deseret alphabet and much much more. We spent the day up there and still didn't get to do it all! We had a blast! We ended the day with a fun bbq at my sister, Kristie's house to celebrate her birthday. I am so thankful to all who have gone before me to pave the way for my strong heritage, freedom and testimony of the gospel!

Mason's Blessing Day

I am WAY behind on so many things... journaling included! On May 2, 2010 Mason was named and blessed by Bryce. It was a perfect day (even though there was snow on the ground when we woke up that morning!) We had so many people there to participate and support us that it was awesome! After church was over we came back to our house for some lunch and that was fun!

Left: Mason in his blessing outfit
Below: Mason w/ his cousin, Warren. They were born on the same day!

Mason and I.

Bryce, Mason and I

I love this picture of Mason looking up at his dad!!! He has a lot to look up to! :)

Bryce and Mason




My parents (Mark and Colleen Bezzant) w/ Mason

Bryce's parents (Tim & Patricia Christensen) w/ Mason

The men in the circle, Isaac Rands, Grandpa Jim Bezzant, Joe Bezzant, Travis Fairbourn, Tim Christensen, Bryce holding Mason, E. Mark Bezzant, John Bezzant, Dustin Christensen, Barry Christensen, Bo Porter & Trent Christensen. We are missing Robert West and Ryan West from the picture.

A couple of shots of Mason. He was chillin' on my bed the morning of his blessing looking out the window. Isn't he so precious?!

A few things said in Mason's blessing:

*Blessed w/ health and strength

*Ability to discern the Spirit

*Know his family loves him

*Follow the good examples that his family around him has set

*Set goals & make covenants to return to his Heavenly Father

*Discern the good and DO IT!

Mason was very quiet during his blessing! I thought I was going it miss it though. Landen had to go to the bathroom during the opening song. He is potty training and couldn't wait. By the time we were washing hands I heard them announce baby blessings. Fortunately there was a baby girl blessed before Mason and we got back to the chapel in the nick of time!

We are so lucky to have Mason in our family. He is a sweet little boy and we all love him to death!

*For some reason my formatting doesn't come out the way it previews for me. It is so frustrating to have it be so crazy and I don't know what to do to fix it! GRRR!